Research in Clinical Assessment

Proposal deadline – 1 February 2010

The purpose and priorities of the 2010 competition are the encouragement of innovations in the assessment of clinical competence or performance of students, postgraduate trainees, or practitioners. Therefore, the steering committee will give priority to proposals which show promise in contributing to the knowledge and understanding of measurement in clinical assessment and to clinical program evaluation methods for medical education. The proposal must focus on research, not development, in the assessment of performance or clinical assessment. The award is intended to address two target groups: junior or other investigators starting out in the assessment field and students who are undertaking graduate education in assessment of clinical competence or performance and who are seeking support for their research which is part of their thesis requirements or post-doctoral program. Senior investigators are also encouraged to apply; however, preference may be given to junior investigators in order to foster the development of new researchers.

Eligibility: Principal investigators (PI) must hold an appointment at a medical school or health science faculty, or in a research institute at a teaching hospital or similar non-profit medical organization.

Maximum grant: The total limit per application is $37,500 CAD which can be spread over two years of support. However, applicants with innovative proposals requiring smaller short-term amounts (e.g., Master’s projects) are encouraged to apply. Funding will start July 2010.

Proposal preparation: To keep overhead to a minimum, specific MCC application forms will not be used. Applicants must submit eight (8) copies of each application on letter-sized paper using 11-point font and should not exceed nine (9) pages in length. Proposals should be formatted under the following headings:

  1. Title and names of principal and co-investigator(s)
  2. Abstract (300 word maximum)
  3. Problem statement (research questions and rationale)
  4. Review of literature
  5. Research design and methods (experimental design, subjects, material, data collection procedures, data analysis)
  6. Project schedule and personnel
  7. Budget and defense of budget*
  8. References

Applications must be accompanied by a brief two to three (2-3) page summary of the PI’s or investigators’ education, research training, academic positions held, and publications over the past five (5) years.

In order to be considered for funding, each proposal must contain the following:

  1. All applications must be accompanied by a statement indicating that approval is in progress from the Ethics Committees at all involved institutions.
  2. All applications must be sponsored in writing by the departmental or program chair and must include a statement that the research protocol is being supported, based on a peer- reviewed, in-house assessment or an equivalent institutional review committee prior to submission.

Applications should be sent to:

 Chair, MCC Research Fund
c/o Executive Director
2283 St. Laurent Boulevard, Suite 100
Ottawa, ON K1G 5A2

*Please note: Council will not fund salaries for principal investigators nor indirect administrative surcharges after the fact. All indirect costs arising out of the study must be submitted in the application’s budget as identifiable direct cost line items.


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Medical Council of Canada